By REDintern Fiona Lee
The MGS B Div team give their Nanyang Girls’ High opponents three cheers after the finals. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Kallang Tennis Centre, Wednesday, March 6, 2013 – Methodist Girls’ School (MGS) beat Nanyang Girls’ High 3-2 to win the National B Division Tennis Championship for the third year running.
MGS had lost to Nanyang Girls’ 2-3 in the preliminary round but the return of national player Geraldine Ang helped ensure victory for MGS in the finals.
MGS had beaten Raffles Girls’ School (RGS) 4-1 in one semi-final while Nanyang Girls’ saw off Singapore Chinese Girls’ School (SCGS) 4-1 in the other.
In 2012, MGS had beaten RGS to win the title. RGS finished third this year after beating SCGS 3-2 in the 3rd/4th playoff.
Nanyang Girls’ had a flawless run in the preliminary round, seeing off not only MGS, but also CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh, Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School and CHIJ Katong Convent to top their group.
MGS had victories over CHIJ, PLMGS and Katong Convent to finish second in the group behind Nanyang Girls’.
Joanne Koh of MGS won the first point for her team when she wrapped up her singles match against Francesca Lee of Nanyang with a 2-0 (6-0, 6-1) win.
“I am happy because I managed to contribute to one part of the win and I was quite confident before this because I’ve played her (Francesca Lee) in the pre-qualifying rounds,” said Joanne.
“Our chances of winning should be pretty high too, we beat them two years ago,” added Joanne, while the other matches were still playing out on the other courts.
Minutes after Joanne finished her game, her teammate, Geraldine Ang, won her singles match 2-0 (6-1, 6-2) against Nikki Chia of Nanyang Girls’, who is also a national player.
Eventually, it was one of their two doubles pairs that gave MGS their championship title. Rebacca Loy and Deborah Theng of MGS beat Wu Qiu Jia and Ellie Chou 2-0 (6-2, 6-3) an hour and a half into the competition.
The pair, who are also classmates, exchanged congratulatory high-fives after their win.
“We’re a good pair! There are hardly ever any difficulties between us at all,” said Deborah.
Added Rebacca excitedly: “Two is better than one because if one of us falls, the other will be there to pick her up!”
Nanyang picked up their two points from one being singles and one doubles match.
Mildred Ang of Nanyang beat Stephenie Theng of MGS 2-1 (6-1, 3-6 and 7-5) in a grueling singles match that lasted for approximately two and a half hours.
“I think it was a well-played game and my opponent was consistent so I had to use slices at times,” Mildred commented.
She added: “The last few points were the highlights for me as I gave it my all. I was tired by the second set but still I tried to be consistent.”
The Nanyang pair of Claudia Yap and Nicole Teoh needed three sets to beat Felicia Thng and Chen Jialin of MGS 2-1 (6-0, 5-7, 6-4) for their other point.
More photos next page
Leave A Comment